Today is Equal Pay Day. This date symbolizes the average amount of time into 2019 all women must work to earn what men earned in all of 2018. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a woman working full-time earns 82 cents to every dollar made by a white man.

The gender wage gap does not affect all women equally. There are various Equal Pay dates throughout the year based on various factors such as race, parental status, and ability. For example, Asian-American women work until early March to earn what white men earned the previous year, while Latinx women must work all the way until November to earn the same amount.

Here are five things you can do to fight for equal pay for women of all races, ages, parental status, and abilities.

1. Contact your member of Congress to urge them to pass equal pay legislation that pays attention to intersectional differences. 

2. Attend, host, or facilitate a salary negotiation workshop in your community. These two-hour workshops give women skills and confidence to successfully negotiate their salary and benefits.

3. Post to social media! This fictitious coupon entitles women bearing it a 23% discount on all goods and services. And this image depicts the top equal pay dates by race.

4. Wear red today to symbolize that women are “in the red.” Over women’s lifetimes, pay inequality will cost women anywhere from $400,000 – $1,000,000 in lifetime income—which has ripple effects throughout the economy. Paying women fairly and equally will benefit the overall economy. 

5. Host an Equal Pay Day Bake Sale. At any time throughout the year, host a bake sale where women pay 80% of what men pay for the same items to represent the inequity of equal pay for equal work. 

The time is now to lend your voice to this important movement. The World Economic Forum predicts that the pay equity gap is actually widening between men and women and that at current rates, it will take 217 years for women’s pay to catch up to men’s pay. Times up for pay inequality! #TimesUpPayUp